Fifth Sunday of Easter
“Amen I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these ….” Jn. 14:12
“The works that I do.”
What would those be?
Recently, I read a report about a group of Christian university students who decided to find every verse of Scripture that spoke of the “works” that Jesus of Nazareth performed before his death on a cross.
To their great surprise, it turned out that all of the “works” of Jesus related directly to issues of justice and compassion – care for the poor, the abandoned, and the neglected. To their further astonishment, they found over 2000 texts, which they then proceeded to cut out of an old Bible. Their discovery came to be called the “Bible full of holes.”
Forty years later, this “holy” Bible is still in existence.
The “works that I do” that Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel are precisely the very ones he did:
Healing the sick; washing the feet of others; feeding the multitudes; throwing his arms of forgiveness around prodigal sons and daughters; challenging the powers that crush the “nobodies” of this world.
Robert F. Kennedy wrote about these kinds of “works,” and the ones that represent the “greater ones than these” that you and I can actually do, in this way:
“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. Crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples will build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
Admittedly, you and I all by ourselves are probably not going to heal sick people in the same way Jesus did.
But we can certainly attend to them.
You and I all by ourselves are probably not going to raise anyone from the dead as Jesus did.
But we can grieve with those who lost a loved one.
You and I all by ourselves are probably not going to stop the horrific spread of human trafficking that is a blight on humanity; we’re probably not going to end the terrible rise in heroin addiction, or put an end to the income inequity so many people are struggling with, or end the curse of pornography that is corrupting so many lives, or end abortion.
But what we can do is what Kennedy calls “diverse acts of courage” – acts that will enable us to stand up, to speak out, to demand an accounting. What we can do is become a “tiny ripple of hope” that, joined with others, can become a “current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
Jesus’ departure after his resurrection means that He now chooses to work through us in doing God’s work. Jesus withdraws so that God’s work can expand – through us! That’s why Jesus can say that we will do greater works than He did – not in quality, but in quantity. Through sheer numbers.
How do we do this?
We can begin by listening to how today’s second reading from St. Peter reminds us who we really are: We’re not just anybody.
We’re “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own … who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
A “people of his own” is the way Sacred Scripture describes us.
We’re different from everyone else. We belong to God. We are his presence now in this world. We are his face, his voice, his hands, his feet, his heart.
And how will people know this about us?
By doing the “works” that mimic the very ones Jesus did.
And, if you’re not sure where you should start, or what would be the most helpful area of need for you to become involved in, perhaps you should ask yourself one simple question:
What in the world of today most breaks my heart, most offends my sense of justice, most inspires passion within me?
Do that.
Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.
11809194.1
5/11/17
NOTE: Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who have brought forth life, cherished that life, and deepened it through your love and faith!! May God grant you every grace!
